It is common for foods to be convenient and tasty but unhealthy, like candy bars, cheese crackers, and similar “junk foods”; inconvenient to prepare or perishable but nutritious, like home cooked meals; or nutritious and convenient but unappealing like health foods. Unfortunately, many consumers do not have the time to obtain and prepare the correct mix of foods that will provide the balanced nutrition that their bodies require. Instead, many consumers resort to health foods, but soon find themselves replacing these unappealing foods with “junk foods”.
Although “junk foods” are appealing, they have a negative impact on the physical and mental health of consumers. In particular, it is appreciated that the high fat and calorie load and low dietary fiber level of “junk foods” can contribute to obesity and many of the chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. The following list of food items highlights the significant fat content, caloric contribution from fat, and minimal dietary fiber content of many of these foods (Pennington, J., Bowes & Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly Used, 17th edition, 1998, Lippincott, Philadelphia).
Serving SizeTotalGrams% KcalGramsFood Item(Grams)KcalFatfrom FatFiberSnickers Candy Bar612921546.21.5Nabisco Ritz Bits301609.050.61.0CrackersNabisco Peanut311508.048.01.0Butter Ritz BitsLance Cheese On371819.044.8—Wheat CrackersLance Peanut Butter371921151.6—On Wheat Crackers
To summarize, consumers face the dilemma of choosing health or satisfaction when selecting a convenient food. Since many consumers prefer satisfaction over nutrition, the benefits of unappealing but nutritious foods often go unrealized. Thus, what is needed is at least one convenient, appealing food composition having a balanced nutritional profile.
Unfortunately, the development of nutritious, convenient, appealing foods has met with numerous technical obstacles. In particular, previous attempts at producing a ready-to-eat, appealing, nutritionally balanced food composition have resulted in products that have poor taste systems due to an overall poor organoleptic appeal and appearance. The following brief summary of technical challenges illustrate why the food industry has failed to provide the public with a tasty, ready-to-eat, nutritionally balanced food.
Convenient or ready-to-eat foods tend to be nutritionally unbalanced as they are high in fat and carbohydrates, and low in dietary fiber and protein. Decreasing the level of fat and carbohydrates in a ready-to-eat food, while increasing the level of dietary fiber and protein, is known to seriously compromise a food's taste system. In fact, the literature has noted that consumers have been complaining, even if they have not been fully articulating, “that something is missing” in their low-fat, low-calorie foods. According to the literature, that something may be an opioid stimulator as an opioid-releasing effect has been correlated to combinations of sugar and fat. (Adam Drewnowski, Trends in Food Science & Technology, April, 1992). Drewnowski noted that high-sugar, high-fat foods figure most heavily in food cravings and overeating. Naloxone administrations reduced the appeal of such foods in a study group of binge eaters. Conversely, Drewnowski cites clinical studies linking opiate addiction (to substances like opium and heroin) to sweet cravings. Thus, it is postulated that fully duplicating the sensation of fat alone may prove a chimera until other taste stimulating components or levels and combination of components are identified.
In addition to the challenges associated with reducing fat and sugar levels, it is known that increasing a ready-to-eat food's dietary fiber and protein levels results in the loss of the desirable product texture that consumers expect—this is especially true for snack foods. The loss of desirable texture typically results in products, such as high protein and fiber health bar snacks, that are described by consumers as having an unpleasant stickiness, grittiness or dryness. Instead of improving texture, current attempts to solve textural problems merely hide unpleasant textural characteristics. Attempted solutions include coating products with materials that are high in fat and sugar, increasing flavor levels or mixtures thereof. Unfortunately, these “fixes” are only temporary, as shortly after initial bite or product breakdown, the true nature of the product's texture becomes apparent. While the loss of textural quality is appreciated by those skilled in the art, the complex interactions that give rise to poor textures are little understood. As a result, a solution to the textural problems associated with convenient, nutritionally balanced foods has remained elusive.
In addition to textural problems, it is appreciated that dietary fibers and proteins can produce objectionable off-flavors in the finished products. For example, dietary fiber sources, such as sugar beet fiber, and protein sources, such as soy flour, can cause objectionable off-flavors. Generally, off-flavors arising from components of a food are cumulative. However, with high levels of certain components, such as added protein and fibers, the resulting combination of off-flavors and poor textures may synergistically detract from a food's appeal.
Finally, due to the low fat and carbohydrate levels and higher protein and fiber levels of nutritionally balanced foods, the degrees of processing freedom for these foods are reduced. As a result, the processing challenges associated with producing tasty, nutritionally balanced foods are far greater than the challenges associated with producing conventional foods.
In summary, the need for a convenient, nutritionally balanced food composition, having an appealing taste system, has not been met. At best, the art teaches food components that must be combined with other materials, outside of their original packaging, to obtain a finished food; foods that require additional preparation, such as cooking or baking; and ready-to-eat foods that may offer, at best, only 2 of the 3 following desired food characteristics: balanced nutrition, convenience and taste. Thus, there remains a need for a convenient, nutritionally balanced food having a sufficient organoleptic appeal and appearance such that consumers will be motivated to replace unhealthy foods in their diets with said nutritionally balanced food.
Applicants have extensively researched the properties of nutritious food components, and carefully studied the eating habits and nutritional needs of consumers. As a result of Applicants' efforts, Applicants recognized the need to combine the benefits of taste, balanced nutrition and convenience. Surprisingly, despite numerous technical hurdles, Applicants have produced an array of foods that offer the above mentioned benefit package. Specific embodiments of the present invention include but are not limited to bars; potato crisps, extruded snacks, filled bars and crackers; dips; crackers and dip contained in separate compartments of a single package and cookies. In summary, since Applicants' invention combines balanced nutrition and convenience with an appealing taste system, and since consumers are more likely to consume foods that have an appealing taste system, consumers are now more likely to enjoy the health benefits that are obtained by consuming nutritious foods.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a genus of convenient food compositions having balanced nutritional profiles and superior taste systems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a subgenus of ready-to-eat snack food compositions having balanced nutritional profiles and superior taste systems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a subgenus of ready-to-eat snack food compositions having balanced nutritional profiles, superior overall tastes and an appearance similar to or the same as snack foods.
Another object of this invention is to provide processes for making said genus and subgenera of food compositions.
Still another object of this invention is to provide methods of using said genus and subgenera of food compositions to improve the health of a mammal, particularly a human.
These and other objects will become apparent from the following detailed description.